Our Conversation with Georgia!

Georgia, Kelvin and Hawa's foster mother (and the Adoption Coordinator for our agency in the Liberian side of things) traveled to the US for the first time last week to escort a Liberian child home to their adoptive family. This child's adoption was finalized before the adoption halt, but just now got to travel home... over one year later. So- God is moving, and those children who were so close to being with their families are finally being processed out of Liberia. Woo-Hoo! (The majority of us are not included in this... just those children whose adoptions were already final.)

Back to Georgia...
We got the chance to talk with her last night over the phone! I had been excited all week as our phone date approached to ask her about the children. I found it hard to sleep some nights! The kids live in her home and she knows them better than anyone else, besides her Aunt who takes care of the kids while Georgia works during the day. We have so little information about Kelvin and Hawa, especially regarding their everyday lives, so it was incredibly special to get to hear about them from her!

Georgia speaks English beautifully, but even so, we struggled to understand all of what she said. So- Angel interpreted for us occasionally. The first thing we asked her was how her visit to America had been so far. She said it had been great, but that she was "freezing!!" :) And she's in North Carolina! Coming from 90 degree days (year-round), you can understand! Also something to note; culturally, Liberians do not feel the need to explain things in detail, and do not typically express emotion. Life is survival, not thinking about how you "feel" about it all. We were delighted when Georgia didn't seem to fit this description! She was joyful and happy to talk to us, and tried to give us some details, although those were difficult for us to understand.

OK, OK... on to the kids!
Right away, she made sure to tell us that the children say they love us. :)
Both Kelvin and Hawa are healthy and well. No concerns there. We asked if Hawa had gained any weight or grown since she'd been in Georgia's care. (You may remember that we learned she was quite small for her age, and we assume this was due in large part to living in poverty and then in the orphanage during her young life.) Georgia said that people have commented that Hawa appears to have grown, and she believes that Hawa is getting healthier in her development.
We asked her to tell us about the children; what they are like, what they spend their time doing, etc.
She mentioned that Kelvin LOVES to play futbol (soccer) with his friends. He plays on a children's team with several of the boys who live in Georgia's home. (2 boys who are both named Prince from the orphanage who are also awaiting adoption, and Georgia's 10 year old son whom she said is Kelvin's best friend - they refer to one another as "brother".) She didn't give us many details about his personality, but we have gathered from others who have met him that he is quiet and smiley.
Hawa loves to sing and dance and seems happy and joyful. You can tell Georgia is "sweet" on her. :) She mentioned that they have nightly devotions and she jokingly said that Hawa will "lead" devotions, I assume because of her love of singing and such.

Both kids love to get our monthly e-mails (and occasional envelopes) and Georgia said that they show all their friends the letters and pictures and things we send. When asked where they got it, they reply that it is from their Mom and Dad in America. They seem very happy and glad to know they will be with us one day. When Georgia was getting ready to come to the states a few weeks ago, she said that Hawa told her to put her in the bag so that she could go be with her family. :) (That was the best!)

Georgia brought school papers with her to send to us once she got to the states, so we should be getting those soon. It sounds like both kids are doing well in school. Hawa is in more of a very young children's program, more like daycare or playschool by the sound of it. She loves it though, and brings the things we have sent to use with the other children. They both have some good friendships both in school and in Georgia's home. (There are 10 children living there right now - 4 foster children awaiting adoption, 4 biological children, 1 niece, and 1 baby that was left on her doorstep recently.)

We were glad to know of a few challenges that Georgia is working through with the kids as well, both so that we can prepare ourselves for specific things and also so that we can pray very purposefully for them. I'll just share one that is very common among children who have lived in orphanages. Both children steal food. It is something that she has worked on with them since this summer when they came to live with her, and it is getting better. When in the orphanage, children take what they can get, when they can get it, as a matter of survival. Children who get the food stay alive and stronger than the others. If you are young, you have to learn very quickly to get what you need, so that the older children do not take advantage of the younger. Both Kelvin and Hawa were some of the youngest in the orphanage, and coped by whatever means possible... and this was in a good orphanage run by godly people, but it' still an orphanage. I don't know if they really had the chance to take food from others there since they were youngest and weakest, but they certainly learned how important it was to get what you need at all costs. Now that they are in a safe place with food available to them and no longer desperate for it, they still fear that they will not get enough. So, they take what they can find and store it away for when they may not get enough. We knew this would most likely be an issue when they got home... and so we will pray for them to feel safe, and that God would give them the ability to trust that their needs will be taken care of, so that they can stop feeling the need to steal. Georgia calls Kelvin "the Pastor" (not entirely sure why... he wants to be one? He loves God? ) and so she tells him, "Pastors do not steal."

When we asked Georgia how we could best be praying for the children and for her, she asked us to pray for the government, so that they would lift the hold on adoptions. She says it is hard on the children who are waiting... not because they are pining away for their families, but much more so because Liberia is a dangerous place to be a child. Malaria is a very serious threat to them all, and medical care is lacking. She wants these kids to be able to be safe and well.

We have been considering going to Liberia with the missions trip that Angel is organizing. We asked Georgia if she thought that would be too hard for the kids. With Angel's help to interpret, we understand that the kids want very much to be with us, but that they have a very different concept of time than we do. When they are told that something will happen (like being adopted, and moving to America), they believe it, but have no concept of when. They are content... Kelvin and Hawa have never had a life this good before. Georgia's home is a haven to them, and so while they talk about us and love us, they are happy where they are for the time being. She thought that they could understand that we would be only visiting, if we do end up able to go on the trip. She thought it would be wonderful for us to go to Liberia for other reasons as well. The more faces of adoptive families that Liberians can see, the less they will fear child trafficking is our intent. She thought it would be good to try to be involved in some media events and meetings with officials for raising awareness about adoption.

That was the meat of the conversation with her! So- we were obviously SO excited to hear more about the children... it may not be the nitty gritty heart stuff that I will crave until I know them deeply myself, but it is enough for now. They are safe. They are with someone who loves them and loves God. They are cared for. They have hope. Whew... it is so great for my heart to know these things!